Bush Is Farblondzhet on Israel's History

Last night, US President George W. Bush spoke before an audience of the rich, the great, the powerful, the fawning, the self-appointed (with a few mistakenly elected). And he made a speech [full text here].Here's one excerpt:

Looking back 60 years later, it is important to remember what the founders of Israel had to overcome at every stage of the journey. They established one of the world's great democracies in a region where democracy had few roots. They formed a unified army out of immigrants and refugees from many different countries. They planted the seeds of a modern economy in the sands of an ancient desert. In these accomplishments, we see the visionary leadership of men and women like Herzl and Weizmann and Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir and Rabin and Sharon -- and we honor each of them this evening.

I wonder who wrote that speech? Methinks he was being farblondzhet, which is Yiddish for "lost, bewildered, confused".

No Ze'ev Jabotinsky?

No Menachem Begin?

No Yitzhak Shamir?

All of whom made a significant contribution in the pre-state period and afterwards, and even were involved in various peace processes (not all of which I supported).

Bush brought along a Chabad leader in his entourage. He couldn't have found a speechwriter who wasn't ignorant or, worse, spiteful about one side of the Zionist/Israeli political spectrum? Or did Shimon Peres help help with the text?

Maybe all of you American citizens reading this could write the President on this issue and suggest he seek a way to correct the blindsiding of Zionism's history.